I'm in the market for a new sofa, and I've found two sofas that really fit my style: one is microfiber, and the other is leather. For those of you with long term experience with microfiber furniture, what is your opinion/recommendation?

We have a microfiber sofa and microfiber is fine as long as you get a coating on it to protect it. I really hated leather because it got dirty really quickly with our dogs and took forever to clean. It's a lot better for cleaning up spills but not getting dirt out of. I also hated how it was sticky when it was hot and freezing when it was cold..just not very comfortable to me.

I have purchased both a leather and microsuede couch recently and the MS is much more durable. Take Nikki's advice and get it scotchguarded to protect it. I did and it pretty much repels water and dirt. The leather is nice but if it's going to see high traffic it will wear much faster just like the seats in your car. Plus, if you have something sharp hanging out of your pocket like a key or a pen and you sit on leather, forget about it. Microsuede also gives more over time so it becomes softer and more comfy as you use it.

I would go for the microfiber, just make sure it has a good "backing". This is what really determines the quality and long term durability. I went to a few furniture stores before I decided on our living room couch and some seemed a little "thicker" than others. See if the store has a large swatch of different materials so you can really see what you're getting.

The nice thing about microfiber is that it feels like suede, but is actually quite stain resistant. I used to have a leather couch, and after a while you feel like you are sticking to the furniture.